Street Smart
by Silk Silhouettes and Lace
Summary: Liz and Patty return to Brooklyn with Kid for a mission and find that the streets and gangs are just as unforgiving as their past. uses canon as a springboard for the story
1. Chapter 1

Like every other Thursday, Kid, Patty, and I head to the "Missions Wall."

With a fixed stare, Kid analyzes every square inch of the wall. Re-reading every post and weighing every requirement for the mission.

"Since there are two of you, I'd like to select a mission that will yield several souls. Our quota is double therefore small scale missions are no good." Kid breathed out. Bored as always he finally decided, "This one sounds perfect. 'Investigate suspicious gang activity related to missing souls in Brooklyn, New York.' You two are familiar with the area so we would have that advantage." Kid smiled in satisfaction and strolled off to the front desk to reserve the mission.

"Uh, hey Kid. Do you think it's a good idea to go back to Brooklyn? I mean we've been there already. No need to go back." I laughed nervously. The last thing I wanted was to go to Brooklyn. "Nah, it'll be fine big sis! We know our way around. C'mon it'll be fun, yea!" Patty slapped my shoulder and skipped next to Kid's side. "Honestly, Liz I don't see what is wrong with the mission. We will collect some delinquent souls and be that much closer to our quota." He gave me an annoyed look. There's no changing Kid's mind and as a weapon I had no choice but to obey his orders.

- Brooklyn, New York-

"Alright let us begin. We are here to collect the soul of Aiden Cardell. He is the leader of the growing, local gang named Cipyar. Apparently, this gang was formed 20 years ago and is just now expanding; however several souls have gone missing and the DWMA cannot account for them. Furthermore, every soul missing has been in this vicinity. It's our suspicion that Cipyar are the ones behind the missing souls." Patty and I nodded affirmatively. "Right!" The faster we could leave Brooklyn the better.

"Lizzy? That you Lizzy? Patty?" We turned around across the alley stood a tall, slender figure. "Uh, what?" I called regrettably. The figure approached us eagerly, eyeing Patty and me as if he were trying to make sense of us. As he drew closer I recognized the blue eyes, and buzzed, dark blond hair. "Lizzy! It's me! Clayden, you know Clay!" He stretched his arms apart and draped them over me. "Clay! Clay!" Patty cheered and ran up to hug him. Kid cleared his throat. "Liz. Patty. We are on a mission must I remind you." He glared at Clay. I began sweating and regretting even more so our little trip to Brooklyn.


	2. Chapter 2

Street Smarts 2

"Oh man, where have you two been these days? I haven't seen you in forever Lizzy." Clay laughed. "I thought you girls had been caught or something." He shook his head at the thought.

"No, Kid took us in!" Patty squealed and giggled. She widened her vivid, blue eyes and flashed teeth as pale as her skin. She was on her tippy toes and losing balance already.

"You two look different. I mean it. You look cheerful Patty and you, Lizzy, you look good as always." He smiled and shoved his hands deep in his pockets.

Kid scowled at Clay with annoyed eyes. It felt as if his eyes were talking. Yelling for us to get back on track and focus, I could tell Patty and I were gonna get an earful from Kid later that night.

"Yea, well…we're just here to run a few errands and be on our way. Nice to see you Clay, stay good, and have a happy new year." My voice shivered with anxiety as I grabbed Patty's shoulders and pushed her past Clay.

"Finally." Kid breathed out in annoyed relief like the brat he tended to be.

"Wait. What, already? We haven't even caught up yet!" Clay pulled his hands out of his pockets and raised them to his shoulders.

"Besides, you haven't even told me who this emo kid is anyways!" he yelled to our backs. Kid's patience blew over with this last remark. Patty had erupted in laughter as always and started jumping up and down suffocated with laughter. She gripped her stomach as her head fell forward in spastic laughter.

With one swift turn of the heel Kid turned back to face Clay.

"I have had enough of your interruptions. We are on a mission here and if you don't move out of our way I'll eliminate you personally." Kid was on his toes and face to face with Clay who still towered over Kid.

"Mission? What is he talking about, Lizzy?" Clay ignored Kid, which may have upset Kid even more.

"Uhm, okay. This is Kid he's our partner and we're trying to find Cipyar's headquarters. See we're trying to meet with the head of the gang. So if you don't mind we'll be on our way, Clay." My voice still shivered. I knew Clay from when Patty and I lived on the streets. His parents had died from cancer one after the other from all their years of drinking and smoking. Not wanting to live in an orphanage, Clay ran away and grew up on the streets just like Patty and I.

When you live on the streets you meet other people who also live on their own. Packs of kids live on the streets. Some steal, some sell themselves, others join gangs to feel as if they have a family, and some just end up in prison.

"Well, I haven't met the leader of the gang myself, but I do roll with them. I'm part of the crew. I can show you our hang out spots and stuff, but why do you wanna met with Cispyar?" He rubbed the back of his neck and put on hand back in his pocket. The earrings ornamenting his light skinned ears complemented his blue eyes. Clay was always handsome. Clay was a lot of things.

"We want to join." Kid said affirmatively. "Take us to your headquarters." Kid's tone was resolute.

Clay laughed and looked down at Kid's face. "Alright"

Patty pumped one fist to the air and with phony serious face yelled "Yea, we're gonna run this city all over again!"

I shook my head as Clay rested one arm on Patty's shoulder and lead her down the alley. Kid and I followed.

"Are you sure we should do this, Kid" I whimpered.

"Yes, he'll lead us right to him. Aiden Cardell has to be in this area and maybe someone at the meeting location can direct us even closer to Cardell." He whispered to me, but never resting the stern gaze he had at Clay's back.

Night had fallen and the city's light now became the sun's substitute. Brooklyn's night life was more of a nightmare to me than a memory.


	3. Chapter 3

Street Smarts 3

"I thought I would never see you again Lizzy. I missed you and Patty." Clay let Patty's shoulder go and slowed down to walk between Kid and me.

"You look good. As beautiful as ever." He said in a quieter voice. His eyes met mine. I acted as if I didn't hear that last line and crossed my arms.

"Are you cold? Here." He took of his jacket and placed it over my shoulders.

"No, no I'm fine really. You don't have to do that." I tried taking the jacket off, but he just put his hands over my shoulders and wouldn't let me. Kid seemed uninterested in what was going on. His empty stare said he was lost in thought.

As Clay guided us to the gang's meet up spot, we passed a lot of streets Patty and I used to loiter. Alleys where we used to mug innocent people, liquor stores we used to steal from, and houses we used to break into. I felt like my past was being shoved back into my face. Like all my sins were there taunting me, telling me I'd never be able to forget or atone for them.

"Patty, are you alright?" I called to Patty who was skipping a few steps ahead of us. I wondered if being here was affecting her like it was me.

"Nah, I'm fine big sis. How come?!" she twirled around to face me. As innocent as a lamb she didn't seem to mind. I wish I was that childish then maybe I could fall asleep easier at night.

"Alright we're here. Wait up here. I'll go talk to some of the guys about you guys and I'll come back outside and let you know." He smiled at Patty and gave her thumbs up.

"OH, I wanna go!" Patty cheered and raised her left hand. Clay looked her up and down and said.

"I don't think that'll be a problem." His smile was different this time. There was intent behind it.

"No, Patty just wait here with us." I protested and grabbed her skinny arm. The hang out spot was this dingy, beat up apartment complex. The apartment's skin was chaffing and grey. Nearly every window displayed white, thin, vertical curtains that were either broken or just missing. Some windows were opened, while others were shattered and a black cat rested on the rusted, bronze emergency fire escape ladder.

"It's okay! It's okay! I'll be fine. Clay is with us. He's our friend Liz!" she pulled her arm away and skipped to Clay.

"You haven't changed like that, Lizzy. Always being the concerned big sister, but don't worry we're friends." Reluctantly, I watched Patty go with Clay and prayed no one recognize her.

-Clay's point of view-

Loud music was blasting from the speakers. Some members were spread out on the couches smoking with drinks in hand and talking while others were at a fold out table playing cards. The room was filled with smoke and I used this as an excuse to grab Patty's hand.

"C'mon Patty get closer to me. You don't want to get lost in here right girl." She grabbed onto my shoulder and pressed her enormous rack to my arm. Her eyes started squinting and she started coughing.

"You okay there?" I stopped walking mid living room and grabbed Patty's tiny waist. I pulled her in towards me as I whispered this into her ear.

Curious about the chick I was with the boys started to look our way. She just nodded to me and yelled over the music that she was fine. Jessie, a long time member of Cispyar came from the kitchen and headed my way.

"What's up man." we slapped hands at our waist and he looked down at Patty. "Who's this chick? What's she doing here?" I told Patty to wait there and I stepped aside with Jessie.

"Ay, she's my girl. She and her fine ass sister wanna kick it with us for a while. That cool?" He looked over at Patty with a serious eye and back at me. "She's cute, and that chest is unforgivable, but she looks young." His arms were crossed and his stance was firm.

"She's cool. She has an older sister. Like I said she's fine. They won't cause any problems." I knew he'd be cool with all this.

"Nah, what do these girls want?" Never mind. He looked pissed. "Do you know why all of a sudden they wanna chill here?" He got me there.

"Nah, well I mean I've known them for a long time so they just wanna kick it with us for a while. They've been gone for some time. I bet they're just try'na get back into the streets you know?" Jessie didn't look convinced.

"You know why they've been gone? Are these chicks alone?" he seemed interested now. We both looked at Patty who started drawing a crowd of dudes. Everyone was asking her name and where she was from.

"Well, no they have some dude with 'em, but that kid is no big deal. Get rid of him in a second." Jessie nodded.

"Alright bring all three of them to me. I'll have the kid taken care of." As the leader of our half of Cispyar I wasn't gonna question him. He's one of the first members of the gang; he took me in from the streets and gave me a place to belong. It wasn't my place to question. Besides, Liz and Patty were gonna be fine. Can't say the same for the little emo tagging along though.


	4. Chapter 4

Street smart 4

The adolescent boy with heavy and sunken eyes pokes his head out the building's main door.

"Hey, c'mon over!" Clay calls out as he and Patty flag us down. I stood still. I was too afraid of what I might find in that apartment. All I really wanted was for the three of us to just turn around and go home. I tightened the grasp around myself and gritted my teeth together to stop them from chattering.

"Liz, are you coming?" Kid turns his head over his shoulder and casually raises an eyebrow. With his hands gently placed behind his back and his nose slightly pointed up, Kid always moved in a dignified manner. That was simply who Kid was.

"Uh, yea…" my voice became shallow. I tried to lift one leg and maybe put it forward, but both were useless. I licked my lips to see if that could stop the aridness in my mouth. That didn't work either. I tried taking a deep breath to see if that would prevent the ground from spinning under me. Nothing helped.

"C'mon Liz! Everyone here is so nice!" Patty waved faster and faster.

"uh, really? That's nice." I swallow my high pitched voice and quietly whimper. Clay ran up to me and put his hands over my shoulder, "Everything's okay. What are you worried about Lizzy?" I wish he would stop touching me. I didn't want anything to do with him anymore.

-Clay's Point of View-

As I led Liz, Patty, and the brat to the kitchen, where Jessie was waiting for us, people turned to look at us. I wouldn't have minded if they turned to look because of the two hot girls I was with, but I knew they were looking because of this weird ass kid and his weird ass hair.

"Ugh, honestly. Open a window. This place is impossible to see in, let alone breathe in." Liz shrieked and speedily jumped on the brat to cover his mouth.

"Kid, you really think it's a good idea insulting these guys' club like that?" she laughed weakly.

"I'm not insulting the place. I'm simply giving them honest advice." complained Kid as he ripped Liz's hand off his mouth.

"Relax, kid." Damn, he is annoying. What was his name again? Kid? Right? That's pretty funny.

"Ay, Jessie! Alright, you met Patty. Now this is my old friend Liz and their friend. Uhm, I think his name is just 'Kid.'" The little brat stepped up.

"I am Death the Kid. I'm here to request an audience with-." He suddenly stopped talking mid sentence and just stared at Jessie like he had seen a pile of vomit or something. Jessie furrowed his eyebrows and crossed his arms.

"Why is there a tattoo of a cross on your right arm, but not on your left arm?! It's terrible. You're asymmetrical scum!" he squealed out in cold sweat. Suddenly, the music quieted down and everyone stepped into the kitchen to see what was up.

"Kid don't! Just relax will ya!" Liz slapped her hand over Kid's mouth again and tugged his hair down with her other arm.

"Uh, he didn't mean that. He just has this weird thing about symmetry." Liz looked up and laughed nervously all while nearly suffocating Kid with her palm. Patty just started laughing uncontrollably.

"Here we go again!" she was leaning over the kitchen counter giggling and banging her fist. Tears even started coming out of her eyes. What was wrong with these three?

"What'd you call me little fuck!" Jessie grabbed Kid's suit and lifted him up as if the kid was made out of Styrofoam. "'Garbage' is that what you said? You little shit!" Jessie shook Kid whose legs were dangling a few inches above the ground. Everyone was in the kitchen now pulling out whatever they had on 'em. Guns, knives, brass knuckles. Just everything.

"This was a bad idea. We'll just go home now. Sorry to intrude" Liz's eyes were wide and their glossy shine was pleading for forgiveness. She delicately tried to pull Kid down, but Jessie's grip only hardened.

Jessie had enough. His hand formed a fist destined to land on Kid's face. The brat looked bored with everything and let out an arrogant sigh. With one swift kick delivered directly to Jessie's abdomen, Kid landed softly on the ground _already_ in a defensive position. Jessie was in a new situation completely unfamiliar to him; he was on the ground hugging his ribs with one arm, but the show wasn't over yet. If anything, it had just started. The circle of people around us started closing in.

"Asymmetrical scum. Don't touch me." This kid didn't flinch or blink instead he stood in ready position and slightly lower to the ground. Judging by how wrinkled Jessie's nose was, those were probably going to be Kid's famous last words.

The holler of the crowd mixed with Patty's persistent laughter. Everyone there was raising their weapons ready to gang up on the rich looking kid.

"Uh oh! Now what Kid?" Liz bit the bottom of her lip and clenched her fist. Kid patiently looked around and it finally seemed like he picked up on what was gonna happen next

"Hey, chill everybody. I'll deal with this kid. So just…" I didn't want Liz and Patty getting hurt either, but like apes out in the jungle everyone was pounding towards Kid.

"Liz, Patty transform!" Kid extended his arms.

"Right!" Liz whined.

"Got it!" Patty followed.

One flash of pink later Liz and Patty had turned into matching pistols. Without a second more, everyone stopped in their tracks. I, and I don't think anyone else, had ever seen anyone, especially two girls, turn into…. pistols. Everyone's eyes were peeled and their mouths were gaped open. As if they had encountered a minefield, everyone started to take cautious steps in reverse. No one wanted to get near 'em after what they just saw. No one except Jessie, who quickly stood up and pulled out his gun, had the guts to get near the three. His face didn't go pale. He didn't blink. He just took a firm stance. I don't think he was all that surprised.

"Weapons, huh? Let's do this then." He pointed his gun at Kid and began firing.

((Sorry for not updating regularly! I was planning to do so, but I had a much unexpected family issue. Anyways, I'm back now so I'll post a chapter tomorrow for sure, maybe even tonight. We'll see. Thanks everyone : )))


	5. Chapter 5

Street Smarts 5

"You really wanna pick a fight with a Grim Reaper?" Kid leapt a few steps back avoiding Jessie's gunfire. "You must not value that soul of yours very much." Kid snickered in blunt conceit.

"In our realm, we don't have many people who transform into weapons; we just have ourselves and the weapons we make with our own hands!" Jessie grunted. He was shielding himself from the fluorescent and violent blasts coming from Kid's twin pistols with the pantry door he opened. "And that's how we fight! By ourselves!" Every few seconds Jessie stepped out with his boisterous gun to fire at Kid who either easily deflected the shots with his impervious weapons or leapt to the side like a rabbit to avoid the stray bullets.

"That's too bad. Let me show you what working with others can achieve. Liz! Patty! Soul Resonance! Execution mode!" An enormous, golden bubble concealed Kid's thin and pale body. Blinding glows pierced the dwindling crowd's retinas.

"What?!" Jessie whispered to himself and shielded his eyes with his pistol. He'd never seen what a weapon with a meister was capable of.

The new heavy duty guns aimed directly at him.

_Ready to fire in 3, 2, 1_

He ducked behind the pantry door and gripped his scalp firmly. The blows resounding from the guns broke nearly every window in the apartment complex, set off all of Brooklyn's car alarms, and left legend-worthy debris in the apartment.

The cloud had begun to clear.

Liz hurriedly jumped out of weapon form. "Kid, you took this too far!" Her hands weren't hugging her hips, like they usually were, this time her long slender fingers hung on her cheeks. Her soul horrified by what her sister, her meister, and she had done. "Why would you take this serious enough to use execution mode?! What's wrong with you?!" With every word her voice grew louder and enraged. _I'm death_, Kid murmured to himself like a mantra.

Bodies twitched and voices groaned. The place looked like the battle fields one would see in a text book. Familiar and traumatizing flashes of blue and red light danced at the corner of Liz's eyes. The horrific wailing of the sirens grew louder and louder.

"Kid, we should probably go." Patty whined with a cracked voice while still in her weapon form. Patty and Liz were well acquainted with the iconic siren.

"Liz, transform back into weapon form. I'll get us out quickly." The cries of infants who were disturbed by the echoing noise of Kid's fire and the moaning sirens of the police muddled Liz's brain and fogged her vision.

"Sure Kid." She whispered solemnly. She stared aimlessly at the ground before submissively transforming.

Into a wispy and foggy black cloud Kid transformed and disappeared with the dry wind.

"No….wait." An exhausted soul breathed. Clay half picked himself up. He surveyed the room holding one hand up to his ear. It felt as if it was blown out. _I'm deaf, _Clay thought to himself before realizing he was well aware of the police sirens approaching. "No…" he coughed out. Staggering, stumbling, but bravely Clay slipped out of the apartment and made use of the emergency escape in the hallway that lead to the back of the apartment building. Who? No, _what _was Kid? What were Liz and Patty? Clay spared no second. He wanted nothing more than to avenge Jessie who, at best, could be fatally wounded. Clay was set on figuring out this puzzling trio.

**((Okay, see I promised a second update. I didn't have a character's point of view in this chapter because I just wanted to play around with this chapter. I just wanted to explore the mood a little more rather than the character's thoughts and feelings. Plus, it's night time and I always love an eerie story before bed. We'll develop the plot some more next chapter. Until then:) ))**


	6. Chapter 6

Streets Smarts 6

It didn't really make a difference to Kid where he went. Every corner he turned on, every alley he considered, including every street he went down looked the same to him. A myriad of tall buildings and apartments that seemed more like a maze to him than a city, Brooklyn was a concrete labyrinth to non-natives.

"Tsk, Damn it. Where are we now?" Face wrinkled, arms crossed. Kid jumped off of his skateboard and looked around annoyed. Liz and Patty jumped into their human form and stretched their arms up as if reaching for the buildings.

"We're right in the middle of Brooklyn, Kid. Here I know somewhere we can hide out." Liz finished stretching her sides and trotted down the streets quickly. Constantly looking around and over her shoulder, she picked up the pace from a slow walk to a light jog.

"Uhm, is there something wrong Liz. Something you're not telling me for example?" Kid said suspiciously; he and Patty started to lightly jog trying to keep up with the jittery sister. Liz let out a broken laugh.

"Patty and I aren't wanted around here remember? Let's just go to where I'm taking us and get out of public already." Liz whined. She looked up and sighed heavily then let out a grunt. _STOP_!

Liz ceased all movement and fixed her feet on the floor. Kid ran into her followed by Patty, but even their momentum couldn't make her budge. She looked down an abandoned, crusty alley. The walls stained with graffiti, an overflowing dumpster lined the right wall, little pieces of trash scattered everywhere on the ground decorated with huge black stains on the floor. Faltering lamps lighted the alley with a dim yellow glow.

"Hey, Kid look. It's the alley in where we first met." She offered a weak smile. Patty started cackling. "Yea, our favorite alley! I remember!" she cheered on jumping up and down. Kid looked at the place and crumpled his eyebrows.

"How can you tell?" the response was more sarcastic than anything he was still hurting from not being able to decipher the city. Liz rolled her eyes and let out an irritated _ugh_.

"Never mind, let's just keep going. We're almost there anyways." Liz knew Kid could be insensitive and overly serious most of the time.

The group had finally made it to their destination. An old apartment complex with chaffing pea green paint, rusted rails lining each window and broken glass scattered on the floor. The moon had fully risen and the sky, unable to produce any stars, was an even bold color of black. "This way." Liz led them to the back of the building and stood in front of a short stairway leading underground to a dusty periwinkle blue metal door. Patty leaned over Kid's shoulder.

"Ohh, I know this place big sis!" She called out proud of herself. "That's right Patty, it's our old place." Liz said quietly.

"Ugh, you two _lived_ here. This place is _disgusting_ and dirty. How did you even find this place?!" Kid swatted the air with an elegant hand and pulled out a white handkerchief to cover his nose and mouth. The place was a storage basement. The floor was cement, the small rectangle windows offered a stealthy view of pedestrians' ankles, and the room had no furniture except cobwebs and pillars which held up the building. Only a small flickering lamp suggested that life could have ever inhabited the space.

"Hey now! We used to sleep in here at night." Liz was slightly offended by Kid's blunt rudeness, but understood where he was coming from. After all, the place was pretty gross.

"We were being chased by the cops so Liz thought of breaking in here to hide! Lucky for us it was unlocked and we got away. Ever since then we started sleeping here at night where it was safe and warm instead of taking turns sleeping like we did when we slept in the alleys." Patty said this as if it wasn't a sad tragedy. Kid frowned at the thought. "It's not warm in here at all." He whispered to himself with pity. He shook away his empathy and cleared his throat.

"Well, now that we've lost our lead-"

"Yea, because you blew 'em up." Liz interrupted.

Kid glared at her. "Yes well, tomorrow we will look into clues regarding Aiden Cardell's whereabouts."

_Knock Knock_

The trio's blood drained from their faces; the three of them turned towards the door holding their breaths hoping their silence could make the knocking stop.

"…Liz." An exhausted, yet familiar voice wheezed. The boy started pounding the door with tired fists. "…Liz. C'mon." the breathless voice moaned. Liz gasped and swung open the door as a second could mean life or death.

"Clay!" Liz cried with teary eyes. The disheveled adolescent collapsed into her arms refusing to hold up his own weight any longer. "Clay, I'm sorry. It wasn't meant to go that far." Liz attempted to explain herself. It was no use. Clay indignantly pushed himself off Liz and used the door's arch to support himself.

"What the hell was that Liz?" he coughed out. "I do you a favor and take you to my friends and you fucking blow 'em up!" His voice started escalating, but his wounds still trumped his strength.

"I know Clay. Look I'm sorry it came to that." Liz whimpered taking timid steps towards him.

"NO! It didn't come to that! You're all just assholes!" Clay's voice cracked; his eyes were starting to water.

Liz and Patty looked to Clay with regretful faces, but Kid stood with his arms crossed and with an expressionless look.

"What about Jessie?! What now? He's probably dead, Liz! You don't know what Jessie's been to me! He's like my brother; what the _hell_ was that for as if I hadn't already lost everyone I cared about!" Liz's stomach plummeted. She became light headed and the world was starting to spin beneath her feet again. She knew what was coming.

"Even you left, but of course what would I expect from the daughter of Brooklyn's biggest whore? You're just like your slut mother! You fuck around with anyone you want and then you're gone the next day." Tears of boiling blood flowed from Liz's squinted eyes.

"Fuck you!" She stepped up and punched Clay's face. He stumbled and fell back trying to catch himself with the air. Patty and Kid stood in awkward silence watching Liz with pity. Even a punch to the face wasn't going to stop Clay.

"What? Did you come back to suck-" Liz didn't even let him finish that last slur. She climbed on top of the half dead boy and let her fist explain to Clay how insulted she was. The tears and the punches began flowing in sync.

"Liz, that's enough!" Kid rushed to Liz and pried her off of Clay who had lost consciousness. Even with Kid firmly grasping her torso she still kicked and scratched the air hissing obscenities for everyone to hear.

"Let go" Liz sniffed once a little relaxed. Reluctantly, Kid slowly loosened his hold. In his arms Kid could feel the heat of Liz's rage. Its warmth alone heated the icy basement they were in. Liz faced Kid's direction, but couldn't bare look him in the eye neither his or her sister's eyes. Only she knew what her and Clay's past relationship was and only she knew that most of what he said was a lie. She clenched her eyes shut wishing all of it was a lie.

"Liz…" Patty took small steps towards her sister. One arm slightly extended reaching out for Liz's hand. Liz shook her head and stormed off. She wanted to be alone. She wanted to forget. Mostly, she just wanted to disappear from the face of the earth.

**((Oops, sorry for the late update. Anyways, I really like detailing scenes so I guess the story advances ever so slowly. How can I compensate for that? Thanks for reading. I posted a one-shot about these 3 (Liz, Kid, Patty). It's pretty light humor in case you're sick of all the darkness. Check it out yea? :D It's called **_**Scribble Scribble Scribble**_**))**


	7. Chapter 7

Streets Smarts 7

**((Hooray, timely update:) Anyways, let's explore the character's feelings a little more. This is written as they see it. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and the new one-shot I posted. Thanks for your support and kind comments. They keep me writing and going!))**

My head pounded as if Liz's blows were still fresh. Breathing became so painful it turned into a chore. The cement was firm and chilly. Lying there was uncomfortable to say the least. I wanted to cry as unlikely as it seemed. Still that was the only thing I wanted to do. I guess it goes that boys aren't supposed to cry, but I couldn't think of anything that would make me feel any better.

I lay there without moving just blinking at the ceiling. I wasn't thinking much of anything either. I might have even fallen asleep with my eyes open. I let out a deep sigh. It felt like a relief. Almost as good as crying, that sigh. I forced a second one, but nothing beat that first sigh. It was natural and escaped on its own. The cold cement floor wasn't harsh anymore. The icy wind blaring from the metal, blue door, the three had left open, didn't sting the wounds on my face anymore. I felt peaceful. In pain, but at least I was tranquil. The warm blood seeping from my gashes was my blanket that night. I closed my eyes and drifted away. Away from the pains of loss, betrayal, obligation, guilt, and anything else that had weighed me down my entire life. All the pressure that swelled my body momentarily released with an honest sigh.

"Stop! Just leave me alone Kid! Go away!" I started booking it faster. Forget covering my face with my hands I needed mobility and for that I needed my arms to my side covering my balance. I didn't worry about temporarily leaving Patty behind. She was with Kid after all; he wouldn't let anything happen to her.

"Liz! We have a mission to carry out! Damn it Liz you know I can't work with just one of you!" Kid yelled with an exasperated breath trying to catch up along with Patty.

"Liz come back! Where yea going?!" Patty waved. She could have easily caught up to me. She just probably felt bad for Kid and decided to keep at his pace.

"Liz, you _know_ that if I don't have _both_ of you my symmetry will be off and so will my balance! I can't fight properly like that! You know this Elizabeth!" he was pissed off. Whenever he called Patty or me by our full names it was usually a sure sign that his patience was gone.

"Fuck you and your symmetry Kid! I want out of here!" I turned a sharp corner to an alley way and tried to lose them. Why couldn't they just leave me alone for five damn minutes! I turned around to see how caught up they were, but they weren't there anymore. My last comment might have made Kid give up on me. Honestly, I felt kinda mean for saying that to Kid. I know how sensitive he is about symmetry and all that. Besides, I hardly ever cussed at Kid. That was something from the past from when we first met and partnered up. Then again I am back in Brooklyn; I'm probably resorting back to my old instincts.

I spent the night in that rusty basement. When I woke up there was Patty and that weird kid standing over me.

"Hey, Clay." Patty knelt over me while Kid stood with his arms crossed and his mouth in a neat triangle. "I said 'hey!'" Patty slapped me. She was being her old grumpy self.

"Hey…I see you're back to your old self" I wheezed out quietly. She crunched her eyebrows together and grabbed the front of my shirt pulling me up to her.  
"What'd you say punk?" She growled.

"You heard me" I coughed "You used to always pick fights with anyone who looked at you for more than three seconds. You and Liz were definitely something else" I laughed weakly.

"Kay, well I'm getting tired of all this 'remembering.' Besides you're bad at it anyways. Stop lying about Liz, _okay_!" She shook my shirt and me back and forth. "I'll kick your butt for making Liz cry like that! She didn't do anything like what you said last night. Liz would never! Got that chump?!" She picked her fist up and I rested my chin on my neck mustering the best flinch I could manage with my weak state. Kid caught her fist in the air and shook his head. He picked Patty up from her kneel and took over.

"Listen Clay. You're going to take me to Aiden Cardell or I'll be taking your soul to the next world. Understood?" He talked calmly and slowly with only the slightest threat in his voice. His hands always seemed to be behind his back which kinda scared me. How could someone be so business like all the time? A better question is what were Liz and Patty doing hanging around a kid like this? They hated "rich brats" with a passion. Now they look like rich brats themselves. All well feed with lip gloss, nice clothes, brushed hair, and accessories. They didn't have any of that before. All they had to themselves was some torn jeans from the Salvation Army, some ratty tank tops and a pack of cigarettes. What the hell was up with the conceded attitude and highlights?

"I tried to help you jerks, remember?" I was starting to feel better so I sat up. "You kinda blew up the only person who could take you Cardell." I didn't give a shit about the sarcasm in my voice. I hated this kid like no other. "You think someone like me is in with the big guys huh? I'm just a fucking distributor. Ask Liz, she could have told you that. She was a pretty safe client back in the day." Patty leapt at me with teeth bared, but Kid grabbed her waist and held her off. He shook his head and tried to ignore my last sentence.

"Your dirty asymmetrical friend isn't dead. I'm a grim reaper I would know." Was this guy for real? Did he just say he's a "grim reaper?" What kinda of nut job were these girls hanging with?

"I can't say the same for other members of your group though" he snickered. I tried standing up, but my head felt like it was filled with cement.

"….And what's up with Liz and Patty? You girls turned into fucking guns! What the hell is up with that?!" I started scooting away from Patty once I remembered. That shit was freaky.

"Liz and Patty are my weapons. They're my demon twin pistols." He said this like it was boring and obvious. I looked up at Patty.

"Is that how you guys were mugging people? You just turned into weapons and made everyone piss them self into handing over their cash?" I blinked at Patty finally understanding how these girls actually survived without being a drug mules or prostitutes.

"Yea, idiot. What'd you think we were doing? Liz would never do any of that pervy stuff for money!" Patty yelled offended with her hands on her hips.

"Sorry, I just assumed. I mean how _would_ a couple of street girls get money. I mean Liz had enough to buy some pretty good stuff. I just thought…" Kid cleared his throat definitely uncomfortable with the topic. Patty dropped her hands from her waist and sighed.

"Anyways, I'm not taking you guys anywhere. I don't care whoever or whatever the hell you think you are Kid. I'm gonna go find Jessie and get the hell out of here. Once Jessie is okay he'll have your ass taken care of." I grabbed my left rid and stood up stumbling.

"We're not done here yet." Kid grabbed my shoulder. I shook it off, but how the hell was I going to get to Jessie like this. I could barely stand straight. Besides, I knew Jessie would wanna get pay back for what this kid did. Jessie wouldn't want me to lose their trail. So maybe it was better to keep him around. Jessie and the rest of the crew will wanna get back at them.

"I have no idea why you wanna meet the guy so bad, but I know he can hold down his own so I'll take you to Aiden Cardell. After that though, I want you gone forever. Understand?" He gave me a satisfied smirk as if he had won, but this kid had no clue what was coming to him. "I'll talk to Jessie about it and he'll give me the info I need. He's like my brother after all." The brat crossed his arms and pointed his eyes directly at mine.

"You have my word. After my meeting with Cardell you'll never hear from me again."

"I'm sure of it, Kid"

_Aw, maybe it's time I go back. I've been gone for some time now. I probably owe those two an explanation, but damn I don't wanna see Clay again. Ugh, what should I do?_

I ran my fingers through my hair and looked up at the sky. It was already day time. The atmosphere was a lavender, orange swirl of clouds and cold. The sun was gonna be extra bright, I could already tell, but I didn't miss chilly Brooklyn mornings, nor the smell of cold cement that the morning always brought. I liked having my own room at Gallows Manor. I liked that Patty had her own bed too. I liked our collection of shoes and lip glosses. I liked being served breakfast by the maids every morning with Kid and Patty, even if it meant Kid waking us up extra early to make sure we'd have time to eat together. Why would I miss anything related to Brooklyn? I still had night tremors reminding me of the fears I had when I lived on the streets. Not knowing if the cops would catch Patty and me. Not knowing if someone was gonna harm us as we fell asleep in alleys, parks or in our secret basement. Not knowing if we were gonna be separated. Not knowing what to expect the next day. At least with Kid, Patty and I have a pleasant routine. Wake up at 5:30 am, eat breakfast, go to school, go on a mission every other week, go home, have dinner, do "homework," shower, do whatever the hell I wanted, and then bed. Repeat. That was safety; knowing what to expect and just being with Kid and Patty. Maybe it's time I return to them. Last night lasted way to long.

"Hey, is anyone still here." I called out softly kinda nervous of what I may find on the other side of that blue aluminum-like door. Kid and Patty stood facing each other with their arms crossed and with serious expressions.

"Ah, Liz. I was wondering when you'd return." Kid didn't bother to face me he was too busy with his thoughts.

"Liz! You're back big sis!" Patty galloped over to me and hung on my neck in a hug.

"Hey, sorry about running off like that. I was just ticked." I rubbed Patty's back and pressed my cheek to the top of her head.

"Also…sorry Kid. I didn't mean to be such a…" he shook his head at me and interrupted.

"It's fine Liz. Besides, I would never believe such slander. I think by now I know who my partners are." He offered me a half smile and soft eyes. My heart warmed enough to return the gesture.

"Hey sis! Wow, you really kicked Clay's butt! He ran off scared and now he's gonna go do what Kid told him to do!" she started bouncing up and down with a beaming smile. I rolled my eyes. _Are we seriously still going to carry out this lame mission?_

"Yes, he'll meet us back here tonight with information relevant to our goal. This time Liz try not to beat him up." He sounded serious.

"Yea, if you don't blow him up first, Kid." He didn't find my wit very funny and ended up pouting. Typical.

Practically on my knees, I finally made it to Jessie's apartment where the gang and I usually meet up. The place looked post apocalyptic. Rubble had covered the entire building, wooden boards covered every window that wasn't already broken and caution tape still littered the floor around the building. Even the sky over the building was slightly grayer than the rest. Not much luck there. No one was there. They'd all probably be in the nearest hospital by now.

"Is uhm, Jessie Finch registered here?" I groaned at the bulky and busy looking nurse at the front desk. She didn't even respond much less look at me. She just typed away on her computer.

"Yes, and-" with a bored look on her face she turned to face me, but immediately dropped her jaw and raised her eyebrows. I bet it's because I looked like shit. She probably thought I might need to be registered in the ICU too. Those three really fucked me up bad. They did everyone. She stood up from her rolling chair surprisingly fast for someone who looked so large and lazy. "Do you need to go to the emergency room?" she put her chubby hand over her chubbier chest. 'No, I just want to see Jessie." This lady was really starting to annoy me now. I get it. I looked pretty bad.

"And your relation to Mr. Finch?" why was her voice shaking? C'mon, I was breathing just fine now. No need to freak out. It's not like I was some huge blue zombie walking around.

"Uhm….he's my older brother. I'm Clay…Finch." She nodded at me with serious eyes and pressed the buzzer opening the huge metal gates next to the desk.

"Room 181, down the hall to your left." I could tell her sight was following me as I dragged myself through the doors. I was still a little light headed and my ribs still hurt, but at least if I was gonna collapse I'd be in the perfect place to do so.

"Jessie" I nudged his needle filled right arm. "Jessie, you alright?" I hope I wasn't bothering him.

"Didn't anyone…ever tell you…to…not…bother someone… who's…sick." Jessie whispered in a sleepy, but slightly annoyed voice. I breathed out in relief.

"Sorry 'bout that. Glad to see your okay." Okay was an overstatement. His face was bruised and his nose and eyes had blood clots. His lip was really swollen and he made breathing look really hard.

"You alright too Clay?" he opened one swollen eye to look at me. His voice was so quite it was down to an exhausted whisper. I nodded back at him just happy to see he was alive.

"Those two girls Clay and that kid, where'd they go? It's not gonna end like that. That little prick isn't gonna just walk home after this shit." His voice was a little louder, but really pissed off.

"Don't worry Jess. I have tabs on them. I know where they're staying at. He wants to meet Cardell. I told him I'd do that for him just to keep him around for you." I was kinda proud of myself for this. Actually, really damn proud. Jessie would be too. I knew he would be.

"What…? Cardell? What the hell does he want with Cardell?" Jessie opened both his eyes but still didn't move his body an inch.

"It must be about those two girls that were with him. Your friends Clay. Did you know about them being able to transform?" He didn't sound too proud or happy with me. Shit.

"No, no I had no fucking clue. I think I told you right? I hadn't seen 'em for days. It's been like two years or something since they went missing." Aw damn I hope I wasn't in trouble now though I wouldn't blame Jessie for being angry at me. I'm starting to feel really guilty about all this.

"What does Cardell have to do with Liz and Patty?" I was getting scared now. I wasn't sure what my feelings were towards Liz. I was kinda pissed at her for leaving without saying anything and just being a general bitch, but I don't know if I was mad enough to do anything serious. I mean it looks like she was angry enough to bring all this about so why shouldn't I be as extreme as her. She helped blow up Jessie's house along with all my friends. Then she tried beating the little life left outta me last night. Maybe she also has something coming to her.

"I'm not sure Clay and it doesn't matter. I wanna see that kid and those girls again alright. So tell them everything I'm about to tell you. Got it?" I wasn't in any position to disobey Jessie. I'm lucky he doesn't want to kill me for bringing these reckless girls to his house in the first place.

I took in everything he was saying. Every detail of the plan ready to cooperate and payback those three for what they did to my friends, Jessie, and me.

"You understand Clay?" Jessie gave me a stern look that screamed backing down isn't an option anymore. I was to deliver those three to him directly or I'd find myself in a difficult position.

"Yea, don't worry Jess. You'll get yours." I stumbled out of the room wanting to vomit from all the shaking my body was doing. I was hungry and nervous for the outcome of this.


	8. Chapter 8

**((I'm terrible I know. I tried to get this out earlier, but these next few weeks will be super busy. Still, I will press on. I may not do another series after I finish this. At least until my schedule clears. Enjoy this short, yet intense chapter: D**

**As always, thank you for your support and for reading!))**

Street Smarts 8

The deathly trio sat lifelessly along the cracked cement wall of the basement. They stared aimlessly at the chaffing tin door across them. Each clearly distracted with their own worries and thoughts.

Patty killed the standing silence, "I'm hungry."

Freed from their trance Kid and Liz perked up.

"It'll have to wait Patty." Plainly put by Kid. He slipped back into deep thought.

"Sorry Patty." Liz frowned at her displeased sister, "we're almost done here okay."

Patty let out a frustrated grunt. She had a tendency of being particularly aggravated when hungry, tired, or hot. She started kicking the air and whimpering. Liz could feel a tantrum brewing.

"Now, now Patty you're a big girl now. So start acting like it." Slightly annoyed with her sister's childishness, she gave a dry response. Between Kid and her little sister, she started feeling her own sanity slipping. If it wasn't one crying over being bored, it was the other crying over the lack of symmetry. She let an angry sigh and crossed her arms. Her bottom was falling numb to the cold cement floor.

"I did the usual preliminary research and found some interesting details I can't quite make sense of." Kid interrupted the sister's mini internal fits.

"What is it Kid?" Liz turned left to face Kid.

"Well, as we know the gang, Cipyar, was formed 20 years ago; however, the curious part is that this gang essential sprung overnight. Different groups, all pertaining to the gang, appeared all over Brooklyn literally over night. What's more, mob activity in Brooklyn steadily declined during this time."

Patty blinked at Kid a few times. Her eyes widened with confusion. She only understood the growling in her stomach.

"Well, the Brooklyn mob chased Liz and me a few years back. Remember Kid? It was when you found us." Patty started laughing "We mugged one of their guys on accident." She replayed the moment over in her head "boy, that was stupid of us huh big sis!" she started laughing again. It was only funny to her after the fact.

"I wonder why mob activity steadily disappeared. Also how did Cipyar acquire so many members in such a short period of time? Are these facts related and if so, how?" Kid was speaking more to himself now than speaking to the sisters.

"I don't know Kid. I mean I knew about the gang and about the mob, but Patty and I tried our best to not get involve. At most, I knew some members of the local gang and accidently got into that last run in with the mob. Other than that, I'm clueless to what goes on inside." Liz played with the ends of her hair and sounded apologetic.

The night was setting faster than usual to the three who were still glued to the floor and leaning against the wall.

"Damn, where is he. He better not have fled or I'll have to waste my time tracking him." Kid stood up and started pacing around the basement.

"Good. I hope he never comes back." Kid flashed Liz an admonishing glance.

Someone banged at the tin door with considerable force. The three froze. Was it the owner of this apartment complex? The cops? Clay?

"Oh, I'll get it!" Patty pushed herself off the wall and raced to open the door.

"Wait! Patty we don't know who it is? It might not be Clay!" Liz flung herself off the floor and chased down her sister.

Patty flung the door open and balanced herself on her toes. A group of sturdy and tall men grabbed her arms and shoved her face to the floor.

"Don't touch her!" Liz shrieked at the men before conducting a failed experiment in confronting hooded thugs with knives and guns.

"Damn it." Kid widened his stance and hardened his expression. "Liz, Patty! Transform!"

"Can't do it Kid" Liz was forced on her knees with a knife threatening to slit her throat. More bulky and hooded men rushed into the room in synchronized formation. The symmetry of their rapid rush dazzled Kid. He shook his head perceiving the gravity of the situation. Kid swung his arms and legs in every direction inexorably targeting every weak point in his opponents' body.

Staggering in after the SWAT like gangsters were Jessie and Clay. Using Clay as a human crutch, Jessie sluggishly entered the basement. Though Clay could hardly help himself stand up he still felt obligated to be extra attentive to Jessie's demands; after all, it was his fault several comrades were dead and the leader harshly injured from the explosion.

"An ambush?!" Kid spat.

Jessie snickered. "Is it really _that_ unexpected? You think you were just gonna walk home from this? No. This is for my boys and me." He dragged his mutilated self towards Patty and pointed his gun at her head. Liz started bellowing for him to stop.

"Now, step down or I'll return the favor." Jessie pressed the gun to Patty's head. Underneath Kid's classic suit, his chest visibly expanded and contracted. He put his arms down and abandoned his fighting stance. Immediately, two of Jessie's men grabbed his arms and cuffed his hands together. This round had gone to Jessie.


	9. Chapter 9

**((Well school is getting busy so I'll update every other week or less. I'll try my absolute best as long as I have your support kay. So let me know if you like the story kay. It means a lot to me. Thanks so much for reading!))**

Street Smarts 9

The twinkling warms tears hanging off the cliffs of Liz's tear ducts were visible from across the room. One by one liquefied pain made its way to her delicately pointed chin. She was afraid not for herself, but for her juvenile little sister and meister. She found herself feeling responsible for the danger they were in.

"uh…" Clay mumbled to no one in particular. He ran a bruised hand across his blond hair while letting out a focused breath. To his surprise, he found himself playing with his fingers and staring at his feet. The gears in his head were shifting as if he had begun to understand the situation.

"Jessie, what are we gonna do now?" his voice was low. It was almost as if he had not wanted to be heard for fear of an answer. His eyes followed Jessie's slow and shaky steps towards Liz. On her knees and trembling, Liz lifted her head in a dignified fashion and bit her bottom lip as a reminder to stay level headed. She furrowed her eyebrows reminiscent of the old days when she knew Brooklyn. Clay couldn't help but smile to himself over this.

"There there" Jessie murmured to Liz. He caressed the top of her head softly and bent over to kiss a couple frizzed strands of hair on the top of Liz's head. She responded with gritted teeth and hushed growls.

"What do you plan to do with Liz and Patty?" Kid was irate with Jessie and the men apprehending him, but he didn't resist their tight grasp. With his calm posture, anyone would mistakenly believe he was being held down by his own free will. His eyes reverted back to their murderously pointed shape and glowed yellow like a cat caught in the headlights. His wrinkled nose matched perfectly with his crumpled eyebrows. Jessie laughed off Kid like one would laugh off an ignorant child. Kid bared his teeth at Jessie slowly losing his stately composure.

"They're my gift. My gift to Aiden Cardell." Jessie knelt on one knee to be at Liz's level. He placed one hand over her small lips and squeezed her cheeks in.

"I know about you and your sister." Jessie calmly explained to her. "You two had a hit on you by the Brooklyn mob a few years back." He released her face and rested his hand on his bent knee. She exhaled and inhaled profusely as if she had just resurfaced from a swim.

"We heard there were two trouble makers in our territory, but we didn't really care. No. not until you two mugged one of mob's member. He snitched on you." He laughed hardily. "He told other members one of you had turned into a gun. Of course everyone laughed, but news eventually climbed up and Cardell wasn't laughing." He wiped the corners of his mouth with his thumb and index finger. "Cardell knew what you guys were so he put a hit on you two."

Jessie pushed himself up and smiled wide. "I see though, that you guys managed to stay alive this whole time, but that ends here." He was congratulating himself on capturing the girls. In his head he could see himself being recognized by Cardell which made him shake an eager fist in the air. Being forced down too long, Patty started to struggle annoyed with the uncomfortable position she was in.

"You little snitch! Let me go! I'll kick your ass!" She started thrashing around and yelling.

Jessie trotted over to Patty, "Shut up!" and slapped her so that his hand print was visible on her face. For about half a second the whole basement fell into an awkward silence. Patty gave an unhinged laughter threw back her head.

"Fuck you! Don't hit my sister!" Liz managed to stand up, but that was as much as she could manage; her hands were still bound by the hooded men suppressing the deathly trio.

"Jessie" Clay lightly jogged over to him "Cardell's going to kill them all if you hand them over." Clay could start to feel his body shake and his head feel heavy. "I just want to get back at the kid, not the girls." He grabbed Jessie's arm silently asking him to understand, but Jessie slapped it away.

"I can't do that Clay. These girls are just as responsible for the deaths of our friends. They weren't the ones who pulled the triggers. No, they _were_ the triggers. I'm not gonna let 'em go just like that. I've been waiting for this chance and I'm going to take it now." Clay ruffled his eyebrows and pleaded with Jessie to understand how much it would displease him if anything were to happen to the sisters.

"What were you waiting for? I don't understand…." Jessie let out an aggravated sigh. He disliked being reminded why he was the gang's head.

"I knew Cardell ever since I was a little kid. I knew him when he had just started the mob. My dad was his friend so we were cool with each other. Once his gang started getting bigger and into more serious business, he looked for a way to distract the cops' attention from his mob." Kid was interested in knowing more about the mob and Cardell. He leaned a little forward and sharpened his ears. Liz and Patty, also curious about the group that had placed a hit on them, stopped their useless battle and tuned their focus.

"To do this, he started a gang with its own name and members to do all the dirty work and cover for the mob's actions. A lot of the members were disposable and didn't know anything about Cardell or even that the gang was affiliated with the mob. If the police questioned any of them they wouldn't find out anything important." Jessie clenched his fist and started to tighten his jaw.

"This is when the mob and its old members, like my dad, stayed in the main group and received good high ranking positions. Other unimportant members like me got pushed aside and told to lead the gangs that would cover for the mob's activity. Despite having been so close to Cardell I was pushed aside and given lead position in some stupid throwaway gang. Those who were able to stay in the mob don't run the great risk of being caught by the police and they make a lot of money when deals go through. It's not fair. I deserve to be in the inside circle. I've been there since the beginning. I know thing s about Cardell. I shouldn't have been pushed aside like some child." He walked back to Liz and pressed the barrel of his gun to her glossy forehead.

"If I hand you over to him he'll see that I'm not some kid anymore. I'll get an even better position than this stupid role I have now." Clay trembled and breathed harder than before which cause strain in his body, but couldn't steady either action.

"No! No! No! You can't hand these girls over. Take Kid, but leave the Thompson sisters alone. I'm not gonna let you do this Jessie!" Clay wrestled Jessie's arm in vain. Despite his wounds, Jessie was still older and stronger than him and shook off Clay's grasp quickly. He aimed his gun at Clay's head.

"Then go home, Clay."


	10. Chapter 10

Street Smarts 10

**EDIT: Sorry, my dividers didn't come through so I re uploaded the document.**

**((Okay, I know. This was way past due. I started classes again and I haven't had any time. I hardly have time to write much less edit, gah . I'm soooooo sorry and I will always do my best to update in a week, but I promise never to pass 2 weeks. So it will never be this delayed again. I promise!**

**Thanks for reading! Comments really help when I write. Your input is always taken into account!))**

"_Clay! Over here." Liz loosely leaned on the alley's chaffing brick wall. She raised a lazy arm over her head and then surveyed their surroundings with paranoid eyes. Kicking herself off the wall, she languidly walked over to him. "You got the stuff?" _

_Clay beamed at her and nodded in anticipation, "yea."_

_A smirk escaped from her long lips and she stuffed her hands into her thrifty, grey hoodie. The bags under her dark blue eyes seemed deeper than her coat pockets and the slightly dry, slightly tan face she wore was naked. _

"_Where's your little sis?" Clay looked around concerned before opening his black backpack and revealing the contents._

_She ran a terse hand through parched, browning locks of once golden hair before responding, "I sent her out to McDonalds for dinner. She'll be back later tonight at our usual place. Now, where's the stuff?" Her slight impatience made Clay all the more eager. _

"_Yea yea right here." He reached into a nearly empty backpack and pulled out an orange prescription bottle containing a potent green rock. Liz snatched it and held it under her nose taking in its scent like it were oxygen. She muffled her giggles against pursed lips and nodded her head._

_Clay and Liz were gone. In the back alley, where only creatures like them dared to roam, they lit up and loosened up. Stifled giggles and wrinkled eyes were only early symptoms of their bliss. This was the only time either felt, at least, an artificial sense of peace and pleasure. Clay lazily slouched on the wall and eventually settled on the clammy cement ground. Liz followed and slid down the wall next to him._

"_I have something else we can try. It's my treat." His voice was enticing enough to make Liz flush a little. "Okay…" she whispered to herself and sat up waiting to see what new goodies Clay was going to present her with. This time he reached into his bag's front pocket and pulled out a small, clear bag containing fine white powder. _

"What home?" Clay shivered in panic. He felt his stomach drop a million stories and felt every inch of his skin liberating cold sweat. The shock was making him itch.

"C'mon Jess. This isn't cool." He let out a frantic sigh. He didn't know what to say to Jessie anymore. Clay lifted his arms a little and let them fall dramatically to his sides before letting out another desperate breath. "Just please Jessie. They're my friends." Clay wasn't even attempting to save face. He knew who he was up against, but it felt wrong to turn on Jessie like this. He remembered everything Jessie had done for him so he decided that pleading would be his best chance at changing Jessie's mind.

"Enough of your shit." Jessie turned back to Liz and reached for a chunk of her hair forcing her on her feet. He was greeted with grunts and several swear words. "We're going now!" Jessie gathered himself and marched determined towards the door despite his injuries. The hooded men shuffled behind him in sync as if this is what they've been preparing for all night.

"Jessie stop!" Clay sprinted towareds Jessie and forced his arm. Like a pest, Clay was swatted away and pushed to the ground. Forcing himself up once more in a desperate act of heroism, Clay aimed a swollen fist at Jessie's jaw line.

_Clay dusted off his nose and shivered. He felt the skin on his back, arms, and legs scrunch up. He hugged himself tightly and tilted his head back. He was unsure. Was it him twirling or was it the world? Echoes called him back down. Well, how is it?_

_Liz blinked at him a couple of times and he finally made sense of where the echoes were coming from. _

"_Well? Good?" she asked one more time a little hesitant. Clay laughed and nodded so fast he felt his brain rocking back and forth in his skull. _

"_Well, fuck it." Liz leaned down to the cardboard mat where the lines were neatly and vertically arranged and inhaled one through her nostril quickly. The fine dust stung her nasal cavities and sent a violent shock to every nerve ending. She unplugged the nostril she had smashed closed with an index finger and pinched her nose. She was confused, was she about to sneeze it out or cough it out? She felt her nostrils, throat, and lungs sear. Quicker than it had came, the pain evaporated and was replaced with euphoric animation. Liz felt herself laughing and talking with Clay, but strangely enough she didn't understand the words coming out of her own mouth. She knew she was talking, a lot, but what was she saying? _

"Damn it Clay!" Jessie rubbed his jaw with his clotted palm. Diving for the gun Jessie had dropped, Clay snatched it before Jessie could react and pointed it at him.

_Clay laughed harder and harder. He felt his stomach cramp in pain and his eyes drizzling sweltering tears. He didn't know how to shut Liz or himself up. In confusion and spinning haze Clay leaned over to Liz and smashed his lips against hers. She shut up_.

He redirected his aim towards the hooded figures drawing near him and opened fire. Scared and already writing himself off as dead, Clay sealed his eyes shut and held his breath. In that instant all he wondered about was whether or not he would ever be able to escape from his shitty life.

_She sat dumbfounded, but felt the drugs pushing her to look for excitement that could resonate with these new ecstatic feelings. She leaned forward and aggressively forced all her weight on him returning the kiss ten times more._

The hand gun ran out of ammunition relatively quickly. Kid, Liz, and Patty had their faces pressed to the ground out of their own free will. Kid was annoyed with the whole situation.

"Damn it Liz! Damn it Patty! If you two weren't in this comprising situation, I wouldn't have to comply with all these idiots!" Kid lifted his chest from the ground to better yell at Liz.

"I didn't even want to come here! Remember!?" Liz cried. "It's not my fault! It's not like I enjoy having a gun to my head!" She paddled on the floor with long slender legs. "This is so ironic!" Liz whined and gave up kicking her legs any further.

_Clay let Liz's weight dominate him and returned every single one of her sloppy kisses. He rested his hands on her lower back, but he still felt the world coil beneath him which made kissing her difficult; he often found himself missing her lips and instead kissing her nose or cheeks. She didn't seem to be faring well either. She kept colliding heads with him and the clashes started giving her a headache or perhaps it was the high that was quickly dwindling. _

Jessie surveyed the room to see who was hit. Only two of the men were grazed by bullets and luckily neither was in charge of holding down the trio. He grit his teeth and shook his head at Clay in anger rather than disappointment. He signaled the men to apprehend Clay who now looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

"So, you wanna meet Cardell too? Fine, let's go pay him a visit Clay."


	11. Chapter 11

_Like a dilapidated lily the tall, blond, mess of curls sits on the grey carpet leaning her back to the wall. Next to her an antique phonograph with a mammoth, brass horn, a chafing wooden turntable, and a dusty record spinning jazz. Long, bare, and creamy legs lay outstretched and a feminine hand balances a glass of red wine on her tainted lips. She bobbed her left foot to the tune and took slow slips of her wine dreamily staring at the record sleeves on her lap and occasionally taking quick glances at her unfurnished Brooklyn loft. She takes another sip of wine, closes her eyes, and inhales._

"_Mommy…." The miniature blond wonder whispers. Her round eyes are lined with clear tears and the neck of her oversized white shirt is stretched out from constant tugging. She paddles next to her mother and places her plump fingers on top of her mother's head. _

"_Aren't you going to work tonight?" An innocent question from an innocent child. A coy smile escapes from underneath her curls as she grabs her daughter's wrist, places her wine and record sleeves to the side, and sits her down on her lap. She wraps her arms around her daughter and rocks back and forth with her. _

"_Why, do you want mommy to leave already?" A trace of resentment was caught in her throat, but she knew her daughter meant nothing of it. _

"_No." The little blond shook her head violently. "It's scary at night." The mother hugs her daughter tighter and feels the knot in her throat grow tighter for new reasons. _

"_Yea, it's scary at night, Elizabeth." She stops rocking back and forth. _

"_So go to sleep now okay and you won't feel scared anymore." She kisses her daughter's forehead softly. "And don't wake up until mommy comes home in the morning." _

"Ugh, just terrible." Dampened and sticky, Kid wiggles in discomfort. The sky was dotting the city with gooey drops of rain. The night was at its darkest, which could only mean sunrise would soon be upon them.

He felt the burlap sack over his head was unnecessary and attempted to shake it off a couple of times making the hooded men grasping his arms uneasy. At least they had the decency to preserve his symmetry and grab on arm each.

"Hey, Jessie. I think this girl passed out?" A nameless follower of Jessie having trouble dragging along the youngest sister halted the march across the myriad of alleys.

Kid lifted his head "No, that's Patty. She probably just fell asleep." he muffles through the sack and shook his head in disbelief.

"Well, wake her ass up!" Jessie stumbles back to his assistant tearing the bag off Patty's head. "Wake the fuck up." Grabbing a patch of the blond's hair and pulling it up.

"Hey let me go, stupid!" She squirms in ire.

Unable to see exactly what was happening, Liz shakes from her thoughts. "Hey! Hey! Leave her alone you fuck wit!" Normally, Kid would have reprimanded her for her foul tongue, but this was not the time the appropriate time for a lecture.

"Shut up!" Jessie, growing impatient with the two obnoxious and stubborn girls, cautiously continues the march to his gang's second meet up spot; he turned back multiple times to check on Kid. He suspected the only thing quelling the little reaper boy was the fact that his weapons had a gun pointed to them and any fatal move could mean their end. As long as Liz and Patty were threatened, Kid would not move against him, but holding these two girls down was hard enough. The girls constantly threw fits involving obscenities and kicks.

"Jessie. What's the point of this stupid bag over my face? I know how to get to all of our spots already." Clay wheezes. Although, his wounds from the initial explosion at Jessie's apartment and Liz's rampage on his face were starting to feel better, they were all still fresh. The bag over his face just made things worse. Unable to breathe properly, any oxygen he did manage to steal felt stale and warm.

The progression and rain carry on.

"We're here." Jessie says sternly. His voice sounds deeper in Liz's ears and she immediately shivers. "Get 'em in." He orders impatiently. It sounds like a car door opening and instantly Kid, Liz, Patty, and Clay are tossed into the back of what felt like a van. The door slams shut and Patty growls. The bag over her face is exhausting her patience.

"Kid, what the hell?! Get us out of this mess!" Liz hisses at her uncharacteristically patient partner.

"Uh, no." Kid states like a fact.

"No?! Why not?!" Patty retorts, growing more and more steamed. She's about to erupt in the largest tantrum Brooklyn has ever seen. She did not appreciate the rope around her writs and the sack masking her face.

"We are being taken to Cardell. Need I remind you two of our mission." He whispers back to them angrily. "It'll all be over soon so just be patient girls."

"No! I don't want to go to Cardell I want to go home! Now get us out of here Kid!" Liz is banging her feet on the car floor and the van takes off forcing everyone in the back to roll over one another.

"Ugh, great a mission. That's why you two came back. Why couldn't you two just leave me out of this whole fucking mess?" Clay complains while trying to sit himself back up. The rope he is bounded by and the bruises covering him don't help. He settles on staying down.

"Got you into this mess?" Liz screech-whispers indignantly. "I never asked you to show up. I thought you were dead or in jail or something. I don't know it's been a while!" She sits back up and leans on what feels like Kid's arm.

"Wow, real nice Liz. No I'm not in prison or dead…_yet_!" he spits at Liz. "Besides, you got me involved when you wanted me to take you to Jessie's house and then you fucking blew it up!"

"No! No! I didn't ask you to do that. I said take me to Cardell not psycho Jessie!"

"Psyco Jessie! _You_ blew up his house!"

"Oh, let it go Clay."

"No, you let it go! We're being taken to Cardell like you asked for so stop being a little scaredy cat crying over how you want to go home. Some of us don't even have a home to go back to! I'm totally fucked and now dead!" By this point Clay has fully sat up and is head to head with Liz.

"Enough you two." Kid says in a fatherly tone as if he were punishing his two squabbling children.

"I think we're almost there. I feel a strange soul wavelength drawing near us." Kid sits up a little higher and tries to concentrate, but the sack over his face is throwing off his soul percept.

Clay's mouth drops, "You are fucking insane. What are you even talking about!" Clay kicks his legs out and starts imitating Patty and Liz's tantrum.

"I hate you all!" he groans.

The car abruptly breaks, tossing the four in the back like leaves in a salad.

A few seconds later, "Get the hell out!" Jessie leans into the van grabbing Kid's arm and dragging him out like a prisoner.

**((Okay, I'm so sorry. I was so busy these last weeks. I had to work in the labs and take midterms, and so many crazy things. I'm a science geek, not a writer if that wasn't clear enough. Haha, so naturally I'm always booked with reading and studying. I haven't watched anime or read manga in weeks and I hears Soul Eater updated recently :c Anyways, I will finish the story and I will try to update as fast as I can. I won't make any more promises on the due dates given that I suck at keeping them. Thanks for reading my lovelies))**


	12. Chapter 12

_Thump _

The four prisoners thrusted into a vapid room lay bound and scrambled across the marble floor. Its icy coolness relaxed Liz's tense figure. The chilly feeling creeping up her skin reminded her of Kid's embrace. As rare and short lived as they are Liz and Patty appreciated theses moments. An embrace could never be considered a small gesture especially from Kid. He is different.

He is dignified. He is considerate. He is patient. He tries to understand the pain.

Liz pushes herself off the ground and sits up. Her arms are falling numb to the ropes threatening her circulation.

"Clay." She tries apologetically only half expecting a response.

"What?" letting out an exhausted sigh he rolls over on his back.

"I'm sorry." Liz answers too quickly and painfully.

"It's my fault. I should have just…" His voice trails off. There are several things he could have done to prevent himself from getting into this mess.

"No. I mean for disappearing like that way back when." She bites her lip and lays down again seeking the cool marble's comfort.

He doesn't respond. Patty and Kid perk their ears.

"I just got…" her stomach was knotting and she purposely looked for vague words. "I was just out of my mind back then. I didn't mean to confuse you and I…" she desperately hoped he knew what she was referring too. "I didn't leave all of a sudden because of that." Her embarrassment and shame warms the marble beneath her skin. Kid and Patty are there listening and she doesn't want to give them the wrong idea either.

Clay understood.

"It doesn't matter. I didn't think anything of it, Liz." He casted his glance down finally grateful for the sack over his head. He remembers many of their adventures together. All of them involving one drug or another. Looking at her now though, she's changed. Her body doesn't look ill and weighed down. Her eyes don't appear to be sinking to the back of her head anymore and something in her tone makes her more feminine than when he knew her before. She is simply changed. She is simply reborn.

"I know, but I know how messed up the streets are and it's cool to have people you know. I left and you didn't even know why." She had departed shortly after the time they had consumed drugs and sloppily kissed away their anger. It was the first time she had ever kissed him or anyone, but she was not herself. She was what the high and anger had made her out to be. For this she had regretted those kisses.

In her many years of living on the streets, the only things Liz carried was a sense of dignity and an old Polaroid picture of a blond mess of curls cradling a glass of wine in one hand and sitting dreamily next to an antique phonograph. She pitied the slim silhouetted skeleton that spent most evenings crying at her phonograph. Elizabeth did not want to be the string-puppet her mother was. For this reason, she never allowed herself or her younger sister to use their bodies for money.

But that kiss. Had it been a falter in her virtue? She had questioned it many nights before and she had that dream over and over again.

_Ghostly marionettes twirling and gliding to the sound of violin and as the shadows race across the ballroom floor they sweep up black leaves that join the mesmerizing dance. What frightens Elizabeth most is the image of herself as a dancer of this eerie waltz. _

She rolls over on the ground, hoping to find a cool patch of marble.

_A phantom lover begins swinging her across the hall. Her stumbles are delicate and light and she feels like paper in his arms, but he persists on twirling her ever more violently. She feels her head tilt back and her mouth slightly open. A vacant stare to the ceiling blackens and she is weeping. Her eyes unfasten. She finds a worried sister and an uneasy meister grasping her arms. She is sitting up now and they are sitting down. Rubbing her back and shoulders they ask her if it was "that nightmare" again. _

The door swings open. Salivating at the thoughts of his rewards, Jessie eagerly commands his men to bring forth his captives. A muffled "finally" comes from Kid's direction.

They are taken to another location this time what seems to be a large dancing hall merely decorated with a long oak table and velvet lined seats to accompany it. The table was empty and the curtains were drawn shut making this room strangely terrifying to Liz.

Lined up neatly the four are placed kneeling perpendicular to the end of the elegant table. The sacks are torn off simultaneously to reveal the group's slightly sweated profiles and matted hair.

At the table sat and endlessly long man with broad shoulders and dirty blond hair lazily swinging its tips over his shoulders. The light gold stubble layering his cheeks it's emphasized by the slight natural tan of his face. The blue are eyes reminiscent of someone else's blue eyes.

Legs spread wide and hands caressing the arms of the chair, Aiden Cardell sat with his spine pressed to the back of the chair and a smug smirk.

"Hmm, it's good to finally meet you, Elizabeth and Patricia"

((Yea, update! Though I shouldn't be updating and instead studying for midterms. Even so.

Today, I read one of my favorite poems and it felt perfect for this story. It's what I needed. I felt so inspired to write that this chapter was done based off "The Harlot's House" by Oscar Wilde. I love that poem and quoted it throughout the chapter. Plus it inspired the dream sequence I had planned for Liz since the beginning. The dream I was going to write was little different, but after reading the poem I knew I wanted Liz to have a sort of brothel meets ball-esque dream. I liked the way the dream turned out. Let me know if you liked her dream too!

Thank you for reading. We are now done with the transition to the second arc!"


	13. Chapter 13

**((I'm back! Yes, as a student I do have "dead weeks." I'm sorry for taking this big unannounced hiatus all of a sudden, but now that I have successfully completed my 4****th**** term I do have plenty of times on my hands for the next 4 weeks. That being said, the story must go on!" Enjoy~))**

Mildly flushed and warm from wearing a sack over her head, Patricia Thompson slouched on her knees. She desperately wanted to tame a few wild strands of hair that had crawled into her mouth, but with her hands knotted behind her back that was not going to happen anytime soon. A while back, Kid and Liz convinced her to grow out her iconic bob. Few months later, buttery ends grazed petite shoulders. But that was long enough and as soon as she got home those slippery strands were gonna meet their end.

"Yo…" Patty answered sarcastically. Cardell raised a brow; he turned his full attention to the kneeling baby blond before him and grew increasingly interested.

"Well aren't you lovely." Slowly rising from his throne like seat, he took two stately steps towards Patty and placed a hand over her head. He crouched down to meet her at eye level. A sudden wave of confusion rose to young Patricia's face; it surprised her as much as the rest. She didn't think she'd get in trouble for responding.

Cardell crouched, examining every faction of her face. Soft, pillowy blond bangs. Clear blue and soft eyes. A button nose. Thin lips that carried a natural pout and round cheeks with elegant cheek bones threatening to protrude. She looked like _her_.

"Step back fucking creep!" The taller blond bucked forward. She…wasn't quite as similar. No, but she was familiar. He saw that Elizabeth was burning red with protective instinct. Cardell considered her attentively.

"Ah, well. Aren't you quite the mouth?" His tones were hushed.

Aiden Cardell helped himself back up and examined the rather odd group of adolescents brought before him. He didn't even know who half of them were.

"Mmm" Cardell pondered a minute. Lifting half his lips he let out a curious smirk, "Untie them."

There hadn't been a need for communication; the deathly trio had already scrambled to their ready positions, leaving Clay the odd one out. Having become aware of this indecency, Clay stepped to the side away from what was sure to be the line of fire. From the background Jessie let out a knowing cackle which only made Clay spring up with humiliated irritation.

"Aiden Cardell, you stand accused of collecting and consuming hundreds of human souls and now we have come to claim yours." Kid recited in self righteousness. Liz and Patty took this as their cue to transform.

A warm glittering light emerged from the girls pores as their skin became broken and pixilated. Cardell's eyes widened as he witnessed the inhuman, pink glow lighting his eyes. Like a scientist making a shocking discovery, his hypothesis was proven correct. _These girls were weapons._

The smirk turned into a grin which then evolved into a cynical laughter. _Perfect_.

Kid aimed his twin pistols directly at Cardell's chest and wasted no time opening fire like they did in the movies. Powder rising and windows shattering, the hall quickly turned into a war zone. Kid, Liz, Patty and all of Cardell's men acted as soldiers.

The sparking flashes of fire, the wispy air, and the thunderous clasps of bullets forced Elizabeth back into her night tremor. This time the marionettes and her danced in time to the bullets.

"Liz, what's wrong? I need you to focus with me." Liz felt Kid's soul tugging her back to conscious thought. "Nothing. I'm alright." Liz shook off the eerie images etched into her brain.

Seeing as Kid is one and Cardell's men are many, Kid quickly uses his abilities as a reaper to move him and the girls to safety; this happens to be where Clay is. Transforming himself into a hazy, black phantasm Kid dashes behind a chair placed at the long dinner table where Clay is.

"Get away from me idiot! You're the target!" Clay complains and shoving Kid's shoulder. Being next to Kid was just dangerous and he had to learn that the hard way.

Cardell raises a heavy hand and his men take the order to hold fire. Slipping his hands into his pockets and shifting his weight to his right heel, he turns and takes a few calm paces towards where Kid and Clay are crouched.

"Now now, wouldn't you all like to meet me before taking my soul?" Kid and Clay looked up at Cardell who now stood before them leaning casually on the chair next to theirs. One hand still in pocket, the other arm rested on the chair's frame.

"Aren't you at least a little curious as to why I knew who you two were, Elizabeth and Patricia?" Feeling a little bit baited Kid slowly stood up and out of pride so did Clay.

"Yes, explain." Kid challenged assertively. Cardell let out another smirk, "I was talking to the girls."

"No, they'll stay as they are. If you have anything to explain or repent for before you die then you'll have to say it to me. Otherwise…" Kid lifted his pistols causing the men behind Cardell to lift theirs without hesitation. Aiden waved his men down and turned back to Kid. Narrowing his eyes at Kid's image he couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. The frail and pale boy looked almost sick and anemic to him. The clean pistols looked like jokes in the boy's hands. This kid was making a fool out of himself; he looked like child playing mafia. Even so, it had reached him the trouble this boy had caused by blowing up one of his product's main distribution groups. Also, Jessie didn't seem to do well against the boy so maybe he wasn't to be taken so lightly. Then there was the thing just now and how he disappeared into black air, but Cardell was well acquainted with the inhuman.

Stating in false disappointment "Hmm, well I had hoped to see my daughter's faces when I told them the great tale behind their father's multi-million drug cartel."

"What?" The trio muttered in unison. Immediately, Liz and Patty transformed back into their human selves and gaped at the blue eyed devil that tempted their curiosity.

**((Now that I'm on vacation I'll have the next chapter up real soon;)**

**As always, thank you for reading:3))**


	14. Chapter 14

**(( Sorry, I couldn't help myself. I took an undeserved vacation, but at least this chapter is longer than usual. Thanks for reading and for recommending my fic. I've received so many nice comments from everyone. Happy New Years! I wish you all the best! ))**

Clad in black and lightly dusted with stray gun powder, Cardell's men stood lined behind the man. Each held up a gun strapped over their shoulder threatening the Kid and Clay. Kid studied Aiden's men; their stance was reticent yet firm and ready to leap at the twitch of a finger. Slowly blinking at the tense scene, Kid directed his line of sight to his partners. As expected the sisters flashed petulant smirks. Their faces were received with an elevated brow and a serene posture by Aiden who merely stuffed his hands into his pants' pockets and took two sloppy steps towards them. The suit he dawned was comparable to the sunset's rays. The shade of red-orange that the suit was dyed in seemed to capture not one, but many shades. A gradient of reds and oranges all integrated into one solid and bold suit. Accentuated at the center was a gold pleated tie.

"Well...' murmuring just above a whisper, he extended a thick hand towards Patty.

Kid closed his eyes and lowered his pale chin slightly. With practiced ease he perceived Patty's soul wavelength. The characteristically warm and vivacious wavelength it radiated was replaced with a staggered beating –she was confused. This matter was better left to his hands. She was the youngest of course Cardell would prey upon on the fact. Kid took a slow step in front of Patty careful not to make any sudden movements that would irritate Aiden's men.

"And who might you be exactly?" mused Cardell. "Why are you so damn meddlesome?" His patience for the boy was thinning by the moment. In his eyes the boy had caused enough grievances.

"Shuddup!" Liz reached for her sister's waist who, without a second thought, transformed back into a pistol. The blackstrap of the sisters' pistol form were to identical to the curve of their lower backs. Boldly, Liz stepped up to Cardell and pressed the barrel to his forehead.

"We're still gonna kill you!" Patty let out an unhinged snicker from her weapon form and nodded.

Kid flinched at Liz's rash attitude. She didn't pay any mind to the line of men threatening her with guns. Kid shook his head in disbelief; he'd have to reprimand her later. The men held off opening fire. Were they supposed to shoot the boss's daughter?

Kid stepped back to study Liz's soul wavelength. He often found her soul wavelength particularly soothing. It always emitted a tranquil pulse like a mother's heart beat. He suspected this was due to the maternal attitude Liz took towards her younger sibling. Liz was unsurprisingly doting towards Patty. However, the pulse of her wavelength was accelerated almost throbbing. Elizabeth was burning with unavailing wrath for this man.

"Lizzy…" Clay stepped up and placed his hand on her shoulder. Her breathing was still; her faced looked more amused than angry. Liz took a step back and let out a low cackle in the back of her throat. She twirled the pistol in her hand and shot Cardell a condescending glance.

"_So what's your guys' story? How'd you end up on the streets?" Clay raised the stained glass pipe to his lips and lit the bowl breathing in the white vapor. _

_Liz shook her head and rolled her eyes, "I'm not one for heart to hearts or sob stories. I'm just here cuz I am. That's it." She sat next to him on the floor in the alley they often loitered. "Hand it over already that hit is taking too long."She twitched her fingers her palm ready to accept the pipe._

"_Don't you have like a mom or dad, anything? C'mon nobody knows anything about you guys." Liz ignored his question and raised the pipe to her lips. She focused on the plastic, red lighter in front of her and carefully burned the green ruble in the bowl. She inhaled and exhaled with an answer._

"_I don't know him." Her voice was flat. _

"_Who? Your dad? Do you wanna know him?" Clay took another hit. Her laughter sounded slower than usual to him; he laughed along with her. _

"_Yea, right. I don't give a shit. I'd probably mug the guy and shoot him in the face just cuz it's funny." A warped answer from a warped girl, Clay thought. It was probably just the drugs. He watched her take another hit and laugh to herself._

"Liz." The blond slid her should out from under Clay's hand and returned to her meister's side. As she took bitter steps towards him, Kid couldn't help but notice the similarities between Elizabeth and Aiden. Their skin dawn the same natural tan. Their smirks and the denture it exposed looked alike. Then there was the laid back disposition that neither of them broke. The cockiness in both their attitude baffled Kid. This man could very well be the sister's biological father.

Kid met Liz's eyes as she approached him; he lowered his glance hiding his sympathy. He knew his partners well. Liz would not accept sympathy just as Kid would not change his deadpan expression. That's just the way they were; they understood that about each other. Liz placed her sister in his hand and transformed back into a pistol for him. Kid gave the grip frame of both his pistols a delicate squeeze.

"His name is Dead Kid or something like that. He's partnered up with the girls. That's Clay. He's our traitor." Jessie walked up behind Cardell and pointed out the remaining boys.

Cardell removed his right hand from his pocket and caressed his chin. He let out a chuckle.

"My name is Death the Kid. As I mentioned earlier, I've come to collect your soul." Kid was relieved that the girls were still on board with the plan.

Cardell nodded still stroking his chin, "uh huh, and you why are you here?" he crossed his arms and pointed at Clay with his chin. Clay looked sweaty and yellow from all the bruises on his face, courtesy of Elizabeth Thompson.

"I don't even know anymore." Clay sighed in resignation. His ribcage still hurt with every breath he took.

"Well boy you look like you're in a whole lot of pain. Why don't we just kill you now and…" The men raised their guns and aimed at Clay. Kid stepped up, crossing his arms in front of him.

"I'm not done talking with you just yet, Cardell. How did you recognize Liz and Patty?" Kid's tone was demanding and serious. _Alright, time to get down to business then_. Cardell's expression became stern

"Interesting story really," Aiden looked down and lightly kicked the floor before continuing.

"A few years back my men were mugged by some strange girls." He looked over at the twin pistols in Kid's hands. "They were blabbing on about how one of the girls had 'turned into a gun' and what not." Cardell playfully paced the floor and swung his arms casually. "Everyone thought they were hysterical, crazy!" He let out a chuckle. "But I knew what they had seen. So I suspected something new." Cardell eyed Liz and Patty carefully.

"I thought they might be the daughters of this prostitute I often entertained..." Liz cringed upon hearing this. While she had become a little open about her and her sister's past to kid, she didn't like reminding him of it.

Cardell awaited a visible reaction from Liz and Patty. "She came twice telling me she was pregnant with my child, but she was a prostitute" his expression had not changed "and I didn't really care." Patty mashed her lips tighter together and wrestled the urge to kill and destroy.

Kid furrowed his eyebrows and looked down analyzing every bit of information. How did the pieces connect? He'd have to infer his own answers.

"Those men in suits chasing Liz and Patty the day I went to collect them, were those your men?" Kid's shoulders relaxed; he was silently impressed with his own reasoning.

"I did send a batch of my men to retrieve them some years ago. They all wound up dead and stacked in three neat piles." This last bit forced a wrinkle on Cardell's forehead. He never understood that bit.

"Anyways," Cardell shook his head rejoining the present. "It seems like you've been causing me problems for quite some time now, Death the Kid. It's time you two die now."

Cardell raised his left arm and extended it towards Kid and Clay. The familiar, fragmented pixels formed around his arm emitting a dense, red glow. His arm had transformed into a silver automated cannon. He was a weapon –just like Liz and Patty.

(( **Until next time;)** ))


	15. Chapter 15

_**(((Hehe, Hiatus over. Sorry that was so unannounced. It's just I keep getting caught up in all these things I have to do. School is so demanding and well if you want to be the best you kinda have to put in all your effort and time. Despite doing so I am still not the best. Maybe I could write fanfiction about my own life and pretend that's real haha. Well SO SORRY about the delay. I love this story and I've think about it every day. I had time to update last week but I got writer's block. Anyways let's catch up with Clay and Jesse next week yea? Mmm, I'm thinking Sunday night? **_

_**Lastly, sorry for the lack of detailed editing I really need to get a beta reader. I really just write as I go so without further ado!)))**_

_**Street Smart 15tr**_

"Damn it!" Kid whispered to himself. The hall was immersed in gun smoke all over again. How was he supposed to get a clear shot at Aiden Cardell with his men firing at him ceaselessly? Kid leapt behind the long oak table adorning the hall.

"Hey Kid!" Liz prods at him with her wavelength. "Let's put an end to this now! He might dip out of here soon! Kid, are you listening to me?!" Kid scanned the hall as best as he could_. Ugh where the hell did that stupid Clay go!_

"Kid! Sis is right! Let's hurry okay?" Patty violently shook in his hand.

"Honestly girls, you don't seem to care that your friend is missing or that you'll be executing your own father?" No response.

"…well I mean that guy has been nothing to Patty and…Kid now is not really the time for this is it!" Kid sprung out from behind the table and fired a row of bullets towards Cardell and his men. They were moving into formation and quickly encircling him. _Tsk._ Decisively, Kid leapt onto the table and ran across it shooting aimlessly at his sides in the most symmetrical escape he could have wished for. Smirking to himself at its beauty, "How was that for a clean escape?" He leapt down from the other end of the table and turned around to continue firing at the last few men still standing.

"Nice job Kid!" Liz applauded

"Yea, super cool Kid!" Patty cheered clapping her hands. Kid continued to search the room with his peripheral vision for Clay. _Wait, where is Jesse?_

As fewer men stood fighting, the smoke in the room cleared. Cardell stood behind his men half amused at the scene his arms crossed at the chest. He let out a quick and piercing whistle; the last few men lowered their weapons turning their uncertain heads towards the boss. The rest of the men stood writhing on the floor from the gun wounds inflected upon them. Now that the scene had calmed down some Kid had noticed his flesh was singed with close brushes and his left upper arm pegged with a bullet. It would heal faster than any normal human's injury would, but the fact remained that it stung. Even so Kid's chest heaved; his chin was a few centimeters from his chest and his stance was slightly lowered ready to leap back into demanding movement.

"Alright, I've seen enough." Aiden transformed his left arm back into its cannon form and fired directly at Kid. Diving out of the line of fire, Kid rolled himself back into a favorable position, but no quicker could he raise his weapons than the second blast already pitched towards him hit. _The feedback of his weapon must be incredibly quick._ The second blast's impact caught him and sent him flying across the hall. Even as Kid landed his body continued to be dragged across the marble floor. Once coasted to a stop he spared no second and immediately picked himself up clutching the shoulder he had landed on.

"Kid, are you alright?!" Liz shouted. Kid coughed up some blood from his mouth and slightly squeezed his gun reassuring her. Running towards Kid, Cardell fires another blast. Kid leapt out of the fire's range and ran towards Cardell tacitly accepting his invitation at a close range battle.

"I don't know what you expect." Kid assumes a trained mixed martial arts stand and sends a kick to the base of Cardell's neck which he immediately blocks with his silvered arm.

"Now now, I just want to meet my little girls." Cardell mocked. He delivered a punch to Kid's face which only caught the very tip of Kid's slender nose.

Kid retaliated by tripping Cardell with his left leg while restraining the transformed arm. Cardell fired a random blast forcing Kid to release his hold. Trying to make up for lost advantage, Kid immediately darts for Cardell who was still picking himself up. Kid fires his weapons at the kneeling man, but it was useless the cannon on his arm blocked all his fire. Kid had no choice but to move little closer and attack him directly. With practiced ease, Kid dealt a blow to the man's rib that was left open from shielding his face with his arm.

"Sorry, but they don't belong to you." Kid hissed.

"Oh, then who owns them if not their own father?" Cardell croaked from loss of oxygen.

"Me." Kid opened fire once more at Cardell who rolled over to his side and blocked what he could with his weapon. He began chuckling to himself. This put the trio off.

"You think I'm done little kid." Transforming his second arm, he picked both his cannons up and fired new explosion at the three this time forcing Liz and Patty out of their weapon form. The impact dragged the three of them across the marble floor for what felt like miles. None was able to stand after stopping.

"We'll see who belongs to whom by the end of this." Cardell stood over the limp and disoriented Kid aiming the cannons straight at his pale face.


	16. Chapter 16

**((The only thing I have to say for myself is "I'm sorry." Let's be fair here though. My life has hit the lowest it has been in years and I had a silly anxiety attack. Writing makes me feel better and experimenting with it even more. Here my new creating please enjoy and forgive me. Thank you all for reading and for supporting me))**

**Street Smarts 16**

-Cough- Clay hunched over and dropped to his knees. _Another one?_ Another person who could turn into a gun?

A cloud of gun smoke collected around his face. Discerning what was in front of him became painfully difficult. But he diligently scans his surroundings and shields his mouth with his sweaty palm. Every now and then a cough escapes between the gaps his fingers left behind.

He likes that everyone is too distracted with Kid and takes the small and glorious window of opportunity to give them the slip. Crawling and smirking, Clay made his move. _I'm outta this joint. _He snickers to himself preferring to escape with what little life he had left.

Clay uses the table as his shield and strategizes his escape from underneath it. Hastily, he digs through his jean pockets hoping to find some sort of make shift weapon: a pocket knife, a letter opener, maybe something to throw at them? Nothing. _I'll just have to rush past them in the confusion._ Clay attempts a quick half hearted prayer and begins charging forward on all fours. _What the hell is that?_ He abruptly stops and faces up. It's Kid dashing across the top of the table to the other side of the room. The smoke was clearing, Clay lamented. It was his only cloak. Still, Kid had taken down most of the men and the last few standing were intently fixed on Kid and Cardell's battle. That's right, _their_ battle. Not his. He had no reason to hang around or to even be there. Breathing in deeply, Clay bolts out from under the table and out of the hall.

_Yes, yes. I'm gonna get outta here alive. I'm not gonna die here._ _Hell no_. Momentarily forgetting his aching ribs and face he ran out the hall and into the unfamiliar corridor. He halted his sprint at the first tug of his shirt. Cold sweat beaded on his back and his heart was thumping in his ears. He was too petrified to turn around and see who had grabbed the back of his shirt.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" a familiar voice croaked. Clay didn't need to turn around anymore; he knew very well who this was.

"…what…" Clay's voice was hoarse from thirst and exhaust. He was too confused to even answer properly, much less comprehend anything. His brain simply refused to cooperate.

"I said: where do you think you're going?" Jessie's whisper was low and smooth. It forced a tear from Clay's eye. _Why? I just wanted to live. Despite this shitty life. Just why? _

Turning his head back, "I don't want to die here. This has nothing to do with me. So let go." Clay's voice squeaked and cracked.

"You became part of this the minute you tired to stop me from taking these girls to Cardell. This wasn't any of your fucking business. Once you brought me to the girls your ass was supposed to go home. No one asked you to be the hero." Jessie spun him around and landed his fist across Clay's face. What was one more punch to his yellow and green face? Blood oozed from his left nostril; his body and his eyes fell back.

The rising and falling of his chest became erratic and then faint. The weight of his head dictated the movements of his skull. Jessie knelt over him caving Clay's face in with every strike of his fist. On its own, Clay's body began to convulse as if a creature inside of his chest were trying to claw its way out. Jessie's beating never ceased even when his hands started to slip from Clay's face from all the warm and slimy blood.

With one last desire to live Clay lifted a limp arm and sought to protect the last glimmer of his soul. Deep inside him something awoke from his intense desire to protect his own life. This manifested itself into a warm aqua glow of his elbow extending to the tips of this finger. The tip of a glaive emerged from his forearm blocking Jessie's definitive blow and slicing open the un-expecting fist.


	17. Chapter 17

**((The chapter is short, but at least it hasn't been forever, right? I'm back at school and I had the worst lab, but 5 hours and one contraption later I finished my experiment. I'm better at science than writing. I think this may be my last work. Unless, I think of a cute one-shot I could write. Thanks always for reading))**

**Street Smarts 17**

_The stomping across the marble floors grew more frightening. Every step the boney harlots and their phantom lovers took sounded like a gun firing into her ear. Liz became nauseated with the unremitting twirling of the ballroom dancers. She threw her head back and watched the chandelier coil into a blur of light and black. _

She batted her eyes open. Was she dreaming those gun shots or were they real? She couldn't tell. The marble floor of the hall felt cold against her bare midriff and cheeks. Her head felt heavy and clotted with stress. Her sister and Kid lay next to her lifelessly. Cardell, standing over Kid, was pointing his gun to Kid's face snarling and chewing on a cigarette he had just pulled out of his pocket. Damn, they did have similar mannerisms.

She pushed herself off the ground and drunkenly landed over Kid shielding him; this instinctual and maternal over protectiveness had extended itself to her meister over the years. Cardell's lips tightened and he smiled letting out the faintest of snickers.

Reaching down he grabs a clump of her blond and matted strands and picks her up to eye level. Letting out a pathetic grunt, she shoots a wide eyed glance at Kid. His eyelids twitched and his head tossed from side to side. There was yet to be response from her younger sister. Liz went back to focusing her attention to Cardell. She dug her nails into the clenched fingers tangled in her hair and thrashes her legs around hoping to land a kick. Tossing her to the ground away from her meister and sister he smashes his foot into her torso.

Kid, blinking back into consciousness, scrambles to his feet. "Liz, Patty! Let's go!" He manages to slur. Patty didn't respond.

"Kid…" Liz managed to groan. She clutches her head with her palm and tries to hold her weight up with her free elbow. Her stomach sore from the jab.

"Damn it." Kid whispers to himself as he lowers his center of gravity. He risked stumbling over if he didn't adopt a wider stance soon. _What do I do?_

"Useless without them?" Cardell taunted. The bastard laughed harder every time Kid slightly tipped over from vertigo.

"Kid, we need to get this guy…" Liz stood up clutching her stomach; her knees were trembling.

"I know Liz." The floor around Kid's feet started to stabilize. His body was industriously working to restore itself from the recent blasts, but without Patty how was he going to continue fighting him. He'd have to take care of Cardell himself.

"Liz, step back. I'll handle him."

Cardell smirked through his nose. "Fine," he let out a silent breath.

Liz limped over to Patty and pulled her up onto her lap; she rubbed her palm over Patty's natural flush hoping to wake her up.

"God damn it, you freak!" Jessie hunched over his fist and cradled it with his other hand. The blood seeped down his wrist and collected into heavy droplets at his elbow.

"Fuck! Damn it, Clay!" he whined over his fist. Clay backpedaled out from underneath Jessie; bewildered, Clay studied the sharp glaive protruding from his forearm. _Are those girls contagious? Is this some kinda disease?_

Clay pushes himself off the ground and wipes the blood from his nose using the only normal arm he had left. Recollecting his strength and pride, Jessie wills himself off his knees and lunges forward to Clay with his shoulder out. Clay took a step back and moves his new knife-arm out of Jessie's way.

"Coward!" Jessie leered and dove towards Clay a second time with his free fist at the ready. Clay shook his head vigorously half exposing his hesitant blade.

"Stop it…" he pleads Jessie who continuously falls over and picks himself back up with diminishing success each time.

"No, you're dead to me!" Jessie gasped; he wrapped his bloody fist with the ends of his shirt. "Soon you'll be dead to everyone else too!" Jessie clenches his unharmed hand and hurtles it to Clay's bloody face. His fist slide off and forcibly impales his abdomen on the glaive sticking out of the arm Clay had tucked beneath his chest.

"Jessie!" Clay catches Jessie with his normal arm and uneasily pulls his sharp arm from underneath Jessie's stomach. It's stained a warm, dark cherry and Clay doesn't know how to retract it.

"I'm…sorry." He whimpers and gasps for air. Clay gritted his teeth and clenched his eyes shut hoping it would stop the moisture accumulating in his eyes. "I didn't mean for this to happen….I'm sorry." Clay cried; his shoulders shook violently, but no sound escaped his mouth. Jessie was limp and coughing up blood which made holding him up difficult.

Clay sunk to his knees and trembled as he placed Jessie down. The tan of his skin went pale and the lively shine of his dark eyes dulled. "I'm sorry; I let you down didn't I?" He buried his face into Jessie's still chest and lamented the last 24 hours.


	18. Chapter 18

**Street Smarts 18**

"UGH- "

"Kid! Watch out!" Liz shrieked. "C'mon Patty," Liz whispered to her little sister. She firmly shook Patty's shoulder hoping for a response.

"As soon as you're out of the picture trapping those two brats will be too easy!" Cardell mocked. Kid held a low and firm stance as he crossed his arms symmetrically in front of himself. It blocked most of the blows delivered from Cardell's weapon, but did little against the actual gunshots.

"Please, as if you could ever defeat a reaper" responded Kid arrogantly somehow forgetting he was still not yet a full reaper. He leapt into the air a laid a kick to the top of Cardell's head.

"Ugh, damn it," Cardell grunted. Blood felt like it was clotting around his temples and the pounding sting on the side of his head made his hearing go funny.

"No more," Cardell whispered to himself. His right arm began to glow and become pixilated.

"Let's see how you deal with this!" Cardell held up both his canon arms and tauntingly waived them.

"No, damn it!" Liz hissed to herself. Kid dropped to his knees with wide, unwavering eyes.

"Kid, don't let this get to you! Kid! Are you listening?!" Liz looked back down at Patty and desperately shook her by the shoulders.

"Liz, how can I even touch him? He's perfectly symmetrical! I would run the risk of ruining it!" Kid's mouth hung slightly open.

"What?" Cardell looked uncomfortable with the looks he was getting from Kid. He shook it off.

"Alright then just stay put." Cardell raised both his canons and fired at Kid who was sent flying across the hall and gliding across the floor the rest of the way.

"Hey, hey what's going on?" Patty slurred scrambling to sit up.

"Yes! Patty! You're okay! I'm sorry I need you to transform; Kid is in trouble." Liz helped her sister up.

"Right. Got it!" Patty gritted her teeth and adopted her inhuman form.

"Alright let's see how you hold up against the Thompson sisters!" Liz shut her left eye and aimed a shot at Cardell's forehead. Blocking it with his large canons, Cardell was nearly untouchable. A close range battle would be her best shot. She ran towards Cardell whose bulky arms made it difficult for him to match against her agility. Blocking became difficult for him now that she was only a few of feet away from him. She tagged his biceps and torso with her shots causing him to hunch in defense. She snickered in response.

"Liz, Patty, over here!" Kid beckoned.

"Oh now you want to be useful, Kid!" Liz yelled becoming slightly distracted from her battle. Cardell seized the opportunity to wrap his canon arms around her and hold her down. Immediately, her body pixilated and glowed pink; it was Patty's turn to play. Behind him appeared the bubbly blond who looked more blood thirsty than anyone in the room. She pressed her sister's barrel to Cardell's back and pulled the trigger without reservation.

"Hehe," she cackled. Cardell fell to his knees and dropped to his chest letting out a heavy thud.

"Alright Patty!" Liz transformed back, pulled her sister's face into her voluminous bosom, and shook her repeatedly.

"That's what you get when you try to mess with the Thompson sisters!" Liz pointed at Cardell. Patty grabbed her head with her palm and massaged it lightly; she was supporting most of her weight on her sister's shoulder.

"Good job girls. Allow me to deliver the decisive blow and collect the damaged soul." Kid's formality resurfaced.

A low laugh could be heard from Cardell's shuttering body. He pushed himself up and glared at the trio. His flashy suit was in shambles and his blond hair was whirled around. His arms began to adopt a sleek and golden form that seemed much more agile and eerily similar to Death Canon.

"Girls, now!" Kid called out. Liz and Patty were already transforming. They called out their Soul Resonance and moved quickly into their Death Canon form.

It became a standoff.

"Ugh, Kid I'm tired of fighting this guy. Put one through his head already!" Patty yelled; flames seemed to be coming out of her mouth.

"I agree, Patty. Let's do that!" Kid released an arsenal worth of shots at Cardell's face. For every shot he fired it seemed like he was greeted with three more. His entire suit was stained and pegged with blasts; had it not been for his reaper body, Kid would not have sustained the blows. He struggled to see through the screen of smoked blurring his vision. _No damn it!_ He desperately scanned his range of vision. _Where is he?_

A stomp on his back answered his question. Kid landed on his face and was rigidly held down to the floor with Cardell's foot on his back and the golden canon pressed to the back of his head.

"Ah, finally! You stupid pest!" Cardell cheered.

"Yea, finally." Clay added from behind. He jabbed his glaive in Cardell's back and pressed forward until it escaped from the front. Clay shivered from within, but did not hesitate to pull the blade back out.

**((Okay, I'm sorry. Okay. I'm terrible for not updating ****and for****not getting a beta reader****, but in my defense I had midterms and finals back to back. I'm on summer vacation though which means I can finally wrap this story up! Thanks for reading/following. You are all so wonderful. Feel free to comment or message me with any comments and even constructive criticism.))**


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